SEM study of gemmules and spicules of Indian Trochospongilla latouchiana Annandale and Chinese T. latouchiana sinensis Annandale (Porifera: Demospongiae: Spongillina: Spongillidae)

Gemmules and spicules of Trochospongilla latouchiana Annandale, 1907 from India and its subspecies T. latouchiana sinensis Annandale, 1919 from China have not been studied under SEM so far, as only optical microscopic illustrations are available. These illustrations are now provided using material from the Smithsonian Institution, USA. T. latouchiana sinensis has already been treated as a synonym of T. latouchiana. SEM observations reveal identical morphology of gemmules and spicules and it seems that synonymising the subspecies with T. latouchiana is justified, however more material must be studied to understand the variability of characters in these species.

Abstract licence: CC BY

A person counts once a day per paper. We keep no cookie and no address: a reader is a hash that changes every day. Any month under five reads shows no number.